Burt Lancaster: Daring To Reach

Airs Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 11 p.m. on KPBSTV

Burt Lancaster went from street-wise tough to art-collector liberal-activist, from circus-acrobat hunk to Academy Award winner. By age 18, Burt was 6'2" and blessed with the athletic physique and dynamic good looks that helped make him famous. A stint in the Army introduced Burt to acting and led him to Hollywood where his first release, "The Killers" (1946), propelled him to stardom at age 32. He took control of his own career and seldom faltered.

Upon his death in 1994, four-time Academy Award-nominated Lancaster was acknowledged as one of the greatest stars in Hollywood. Lancaster's films include Westerns, costume epics and serious contemporary dramas. He starred in swashbucklers like "The Crimson Pirate" (1952), and in more risky roles, like the aging alcoholic in "Come Back Little Sheba" (1952).

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Related Video: The Unforgiven Trailer featuring Burt Lancaster

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"The Unforgiven" Trailer - Directed by John Huston and starring Burt Lancaster, Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Charles Bickford, Albert Salmi. The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their adopted daughter was stolen from the local Kiawa tribe.